Popolo Art History | Location | Opening Hours Tickets | Authorisations
Art History History | Cerasi | Caravaggio Peter | Caravaggio Paul | Chigi Borgia
The Church of Santa Maria del Popolo and Caravaggio in Rome
The Chapel of Santa Maria del Popolo, financed by the Romans
The Romans believed, perhaps rightly so, that the tomb of Emperor Nero was located on the site of this church...
Chigi Chapel, Habakkuk In 1100, Pope Paschal II ordered the construction of a Chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, no doubt to exorcise the shadow of Nero, which some believed still hung over the place.
Nero, an emperor infamous for martyring Christians following the fire of Rome, after declaring them guilty of said fire, which he himself appears to have started.
In order to erect this Chapel, Pope Paschal II ordered that its construction be financed entirely by the Roman people.
It is not known to what extent the Romans' contributions to the Chapel were voluntary, but enough money was raised for its construction.
Assumption of the Virgin In gratitude for this more or less spontaneous funding, the Chapel took the name of Santa Maria “del Popolo”, “of the People” who had paid for it.
After the great plague of 1231, Pope Gregory IX had this Chapel restored and enlarged to make it a church, and even had a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary installed there, said to have been painted by Saint Luke.
The Chapel, which became a church, retained its original name “del Popolo”.
Two centuries later, Sixtus IV Della Rovere, the Pope who gave his name to the Sistine Chapel, ordered the construction of the current church of Santa Maria del Popolo, a masterpiece of early Roman Renaissance architecture.
Sixtus IV's church was built by Baccio Pontelli and Andrea Bregno between 1472 and 1478.
Art, Architecture and Chapels of Santa Maria del Popolo
Chapel of the Crucifix Santa Maria del Popolo The church has a three-nave architecture, with the side naves opening onto several chapels, as does the back of the church.
These were chapels belonging to wealthy and influential families or members of the high clergy.
This privilege had happy consequences, as they filled them with masterpieces that we can still admire today, both in this church and in many others in Rome.
The churches of Rome contain no fewer than six masterpieces by Caravaggio, two of which, both exceptional, can be found here at Santa Maria del Popolo.
Art History History | Cerasi | Caravaggio Peter | Caravaggio Paul | Chigi Borgia
Popolo Art History | Location | Opening Hours Tickets | Authorisations
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